NEW YORK & LONDON & BELFAST, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 11, 2025--
Options Technology (Options), the leading global provider of cloud-enabled managed services for the financial sector, today announced its sponsorship of the 2025 SPAR Craic 10K St. Patrick’s Day Run in Belfast.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250311692971/en/
Celebrating its 10th year, the event will return on 17 th March 2025, drawing thousands of runners and spectators from across Northern Ireland and beyond. The SPAR Craic 10K has become a staple on the calendar for runners of all levels, and this year, more than 2,500 participants are expected to take on the race from Belfast City Hall to Ormeau Park.
Options, a global company with offices in major financial hubs including New York, London, Hong Kong, Dubai and Sydney, has been a proud supporter of the event since its inception. The firm’s Belfast headquarters, established in 2014, has fielded teams in the race since the first SPAR Craic 10K in 2015, and is excited to continue its partnership in 2025.
Danny Moore, President and CEO of Options, commented, “We are proud to once again support the SPAR Craic 10k St. Patrick’s Day run in 2025. This event has become a highlight of our annual calendar, bringing our community together in a celebration of sport, spirit, and tradition. Best of luck to all the runners!"
Connla McCann, Director of the SPAR Craic 10k, added, “St. Patrick’s Day is a very special occasion for the Irish around the world, and we are delighted to be holding Belfast’s annual SPAR Craic 10k again. With more runners than ever before, we plan to make 17 th March a day to remember as we start in a fun and healthy way.”
This sponsorship follows Options’ £150,000 investment to support student-athletes at Queen’s University Belfast Rowing Club and its donation of £26,188 to the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust.
Options Technology:
Options Technology (Options) is a financial technology company at the forefront of banking and trading infrastructure. We serve clients globally with offices in New York, London, Belfast, Cambridge, Chicago, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, and Auckland. At Options, our services are woven into the hottest trends in global technology, including high-performance Networking, Cloud, Security, and AI (Artificial Intelligence).
www.options-it.com
Options Celebrates a Decade of Sponsoring the SPAR Craic 10K (Photo: Business Wire)
U.S. forces have boarded another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. The announcement was made Friday by the U.S. military. The Trump administration has been targeting sanctioned tankers traveling to and from Venezuela.
The pre-dawn action was carried out by U.S. Marines and Navy, taking part in the monthslong buildup of forces in the Caribbean, according to U.S. Southern Command, which declared “there is no safe haven for criminals” as it announced the seizure of the vessel called the Olina.
Navy officials couldn’t immediately provide details about whether the Coast Guard was part of the force that took control of the vessel as has been the case in the previous seizures. A spokesperson for the U.S. Coast Guard said there was no immediate comment on the seizure.
The Olina is the fifth tanker that has been seized by U.S. forces as part of a broader effort by Trump’s administration to control the distribution of Venezuela’s oil products globally following the U.S. ouster of President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid.
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Richard Grenell, president of the Kennedy Center, says a documentary film about first lady Melania Trump will make its premiere later this month, posting a trailer on X.
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The president has said that the U.S. will control distribution worldwide of Venezuela’s oil and will share some of the proceeds with the country’s population from accounts that it controls.
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Trump is expected to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.
He hopes to secure $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s oil industry. The goal rides on the executives’ comfort with investing in a country facing instability and inflation.
Since a U.S. military raid captured former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has said there’s a new opportunity to use the country’s oil to keep gasoline prices low.
The full list of executives invited to the meeting has not been disclosed, but Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend.
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Iran’s judiciary chief has vowed decisive punishment for protesters, signaling a coming crackdown against demonstrations.
Iranian state television reported the comments from Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei on Friday. They came after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei criticized Trump’s support for the protesters, calling Trump’s hands “stained with the blood of Iranians.”
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Hiring likely remained subdued last month as many companies have sought to avoid expanding their workforces, though the job gains may be enough to bring down the unemployment rate.
December’s jobs report, to be released Friday, is likely to show that employers added a modest 55,000 jobs, economists forecast. That figure would be below November’s 64,000 but an improvement after the economy lost jobs in October. The unemployment rate is expected to slip to 4.5%, according to data provider FactSet, from a four-year high of 4.6% in November.
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FILE - President Donald Trump dances as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
